Candidates for Missoula City Council in Wards 1 and 2 told a League of Women Voters forum that housing affordability and supply is the city’s most pressing issue, but they differed on how the city should respond.

The forum’s candidates framed the problem as a mix of rising property taxes, constrained development, and housing stock that is priced above wages for many Missoulians. “We need more housing,” Candidate Justin Ponton said, adding that he supports measures in the city’s new zoning framework including more-permissible accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to increase density. “I think less parking regulation will be good overall for developers,” Ponton said.

Why it matters: Candidates’ proposals would steer how Missoula manages growth, where density is allowed, and whether the city prioritizes market-driven development or public-ownership models. Those choices affect rents, property values and the ability of residents who work locally to remain in the city.

Most of the candidates advocated a mix of supply increases and protections for neighborhood character. Candidate Betsy Kraske said the city should “build inward and upward” to increase density while protecting parks and historic neighborhoods. Candidate Rebecca Dawson emphasized reducing permitting delays and regulatory burdens as part of a strategy to lower the cost of building affordable housing: “We’ve gotta look at our permitting process. How long does it take? Are we duplicating efforts?” she asked.

By contrast, Candidate Lucas Moody called for more public-ownership models. He described a “social housing model” that would take housing off the speculative market, tie rents to local wages (he referenced “30% of people’s working income”) and use revenue to repay municipal bonds. Moody said local examples, such as resident-owned properties and community land trusts, could be scaled citywide.

Candidates referenced planning documents and recent supply shortfalls. Ponton told the forum that “on average, we’ve been anywhere between 1 and 2000 housing units short of what most consider to be a normal amount of housing supply,” and also cited the city’s 2045 land-use plan projection as a long-range context for growth.

Discussion vs. decisions: This was a policy discussion; no formal council action or vote occurred at the forum. Candidates described policy tools — zoning changes, ADUs, permitting reform, community land trusts and municipal social housing — that a future council could pursue, but none committed to a specific ordinance or implementation timeline at the event.

What to watch next: Implementation depends on deliberations by the Missoula City Council, forthcoming zoning code reforms and any budget allocations to housing programs. Candidates identified regulatory reform, code changes and land-ownership mechanisms as the primary levers.

Ending: The debate highlighted wide agreement that housing is Missoula’s top challenge, with distinct proposals ranging from incremental zoning and permitting fixes to large-scale public ownership models.